Online Banking

This issue of the International Journal of Bank Marketing is the first of two special issues devoted to online banking. The call for papers generated a substantial number of submissions from around the world – proof, if it were needed, of the degree of interest in online banking. Some papers were rejected because they were not sufficiently focused on online bank marketing, others because their empirical and conceptual base was not as strong as competing papers. And, of course, some papers arrived months after the deadline! The pool of remaining papers has been split into two issues. A crude division was made between European-based papers (this issue) and those from the rest of the world (Spring 2003 issue). This issue attests to the richness of the subject-matter of online bank marketing. The first paper (Bradley and Stewart) analyses the factors that are promoting and inhibiting the banks’ adoption of online banking. Using a Delphi study of the views of international experts, it is reckoned that by 2011 the vast majority of banks will have an online offering and the vast majority of customers will have adopted online banking. The drivers of bank adoption will overcome the inhibitors in this period of time. Relatively high adoption rates are seen in Scandinavia, so it is particularly apposite to have a paper addressing the Finnish market. Karjaluoto et al.’s large-scale survey investigated consumer attitudes to online banking. They found positive correlation between consumer attitudes to online banking and their prior experience of computers and technology and their experience of personal banking. Finns see online banking as faster, easier, cheaper and as providing more consistent standards of service. Interestingly, social contacts with banking personnel had a contrary effect on attitudes to online banking. The issue of socialisation in customer-bank relations is one taken up by O’Donnell et al. in a UK study. Their main finding is that technology has not replaced the need for personal interaction. The promotion of online banking may make economic sense for banks but their business clients are not universally keen. When corporate clients do rate technology, it is as a complement to other means of interaction. Clearly business clients like to be able to see the whites of their bankers’ eyes! The final paper in this issue provides an overview of the state of online banking in Romania. The factors at work at a national level, in a transitional economy, are more basic than those operating in developing economies. These basics include factors such as the reliability and security of the network and government support. Three characteristics are found in Romanian banking: banks use the multi-channel strategy; banks are looking for competitive advantage; and consumer adoption is still at relatively low levels. In these respects, Romania is not that different from its more developed European neighbours. The four papers in this